The Easy Way To Back Things Up

Thursdays are Tip days at SimpleProductivityBlog.

I use a standard backup package to do automated backups of our home machine every week. While not impossible to retrieve things from the backups, it is difficult to do so. And sometimes I just want another copy of data somewhere, but in a usable format.

This last week I decided it would be a good idea to backup the primary location of our MP3s, stored on my husband’s computer, to my external hard drive. The problem is that as things are added to the collection, I may not be aware, and I don’t want to spend the time hunting down the changes. I also want the files in native format for quick access.

I’ve used Foldersync for a couple of years to keep files the same between home and work using a thumb drive. I decided to apply it to this problem.

FolderSync

What is FolderSync?

FolderSync is a folder synchronization software. It can do whole directory structures or files, exclude files based on criteria, and synchronize in both directions at the same time.

Where Do I Get FolderSync?

FolderSync can be found at www.kaleb.com. It is freeware, but donations are gratefully received from the author.

How Do I Use FolderSync?

FolderSync is very easy to use. When you start the program, there are boxes labeled “Folder Containing New Version” and “Folder Containing Old Version”. You can specify file types to include, and file types to ignore. Pressing the Compare Files button will bring up a list of the files in the two folders, and is color coded to indicate which files are newer. Pressing the synchronize button will bring the copies into sync, either deleting or moving items from the old version that don’t exist in the new version.

Automating FolderSync?

FolderSync can also be automated. When you have set up your parameters for a sync, you can save the profile. Once the profile is saved, you can either use it again through the program, or call the program and specify the profile. This call is: fsync.exe “profile_name” /auto

These calls can be put into a DOS batch file, allowing you to either schedule the synch through a scheduling program like nnCron or Windows Scheduler, or run the batch file manually.

Photo by ::stromberg::